The East Wing of the White House was demolished this week, making way for a new $300 million ballroom. Panelists joined Washington Week With The Atlantic to discuss what authority Donald Trump may have to dismantle the historic structure.
“There are a lot of memories that people have there,” Toluse Olorunnipa, a staff writer at The Atlantic, said last night. “Seeing it defaced and deconstructed in a matter of three days was really shocking to the conscience of a lot of people, especially people who have worked there.”
Olorunnipa also added that “for people who admire Washington, who admire the presidency, who admire the White House, it’s a sign that this president is not doing things the way previous presidents did. He’s doing it his own way, and he’s doing it in a way that really thumbs his nose at the idea that checks and balances actually work.”
Joining the editor in chief of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg, to discuss this and more: Peter Baker, the chief White House correspondent at The New York Times; Susan Glasser, a staff writer at The New Yorker; David Ignatius, a foreign-affairs columnist at The Washington Post; and Toluse Olorunnipa, a staff Writer at The Atlantic.
Watch the full episode here.
